Movie Talk - Green Lantern (2011)

Well, it’s been a couple of years since I’ve seen this movie. My Green Lantern phase is still going and I had to touch on this movie eventually. So, I’ll just start at the beginning with the live action version of Green Lantern.

I don’t remember when I first heard there was a GL movie coming. I don’t think I was that excited about it, though. I didn’t see it in theaters since word of mouth said that the movie was bad. I still remember the Cinema Snob’s Midnight Movie feature where he said the villain was a literal piece of crap. The first time I laid eyes on the film was actually after my grandad’s funeral in 2014. We were at my uncle’s house the day after his funeral and I didn’t feel like going to church that day. It was playing on TNT and I came in sometime around the last act, I believe.

I ended up finding it in a cheap bin in 2016. I eventually got around to watching it…. and then turned it off at the halfway point. I actually think I was going to sleep, so it wasn’t making me stay up. Eventually, I finished it and then lost track of the thing for a couple of years. I ended up finding it at my sister’s house last week, so I decided it was time to give this thing another watch. I gotta say that I was surprised this time.

Green Lantern was released during the Summer of 2011. It starred Ryan Reynolds as Hal Jordan, Temerua Morrison as Abin Sur, Blake Lively as Carol Ferris, Peter Sarsguard as Hector Hammond, Mark Strong as Sinestro, Angela Bassett as Amanda Waller, and Michael Clark Duncan as Kilowog. In the movie, Hal Jordan is an irresponsible test pilot who becomes the first  human Green Lantern for his sector. He’s given a ring that has the power to do anything he can imagine. He must face his fears as Parallax, the yellow entity of fear, threatens Earth and the universe as a whole.

Movie Talk - Green Lantern: First Flight and Green Lantern: Emerald Knights

Re-reading The Sinestro Corps War for my other blog (right here, if you’re interested) has gotten me looking at the Green Lantern Corps. While I’m not the biggest fan of Hal and his friends, they’re cool in my book. So, for the next few days, I’ll be talking about what I call “The Yay, the Okay, and the Nay” of Green Lantern in other media. First up are the two Green Lantern DCAU movies: First Flight and Emerald Knights.

Back in 2009, the WB released Green Lantern: First Flight direct-to-DVD. I think I either rented it or saw it on Cartoon Network. It features Christopher Meloni (Det. Stabler from Law and Order: SVU) as Hal Jordan, Victor Garber as Sinestro, Trica Helfer as Boodikka, and Michael Madsen as Kilawog. Green Lantern: Emerald Knights was released in 2011 and even though Emerald Knights uses the same designs from First Flight, it’s not a sequel which is kinda confusing. Even though I’ve had it in my Blu-ray collection for a bit, I just saw it this weekend. It features Nathan Fillion as Hal Jordan, Jason Issacs as Sinestro, Arnold Vosloo as Abin Sur, Kelly Hu as Laira, Henry Rollins as Kilawog, and Michael Jackson (… not that one) as Ganthet.

'It's a Video Game!" - Assassin's Creed 3

Well, it’s been a while since I’ve talked about some Assassin’s Creed stuff here… or anything here for that matter.  Right now, I’m kind of on a break from the Assassin/Templar conflict. I can only play so much of the same game for so long. Besides, I really wanted to play that new Spider-Man game. I stopped at my replay of Black Flag and my first playthrough of Unity. I did think about grouping these games together, but something tells me I’ll have a lot to say about these later installments.

Since I’ve got “The Adventures of Kenway and Son” on the mind, I might as well get this one dealt with. Assassin’s Creed 3 was released on consoles and PC in 2012 by Ubisoft. I didn’t play it until a couple of years later and it was only one playthrough. I’ll get to why below. Since I was going through the games again, I wanted to revisit it. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find the dang disc. Luckily, this game doesn’t cost too much these days, so I found it in a store in Columbia. I didn’t play the DLC, though, since I heard that it had some glitchy issues. Besides, I think I’ve already had enough of weird Presidents this year.

Random Thoughts #52 - "I Can Hear the Rain! All 12 Inches of It!"

Well, it’s been a minute since I’ve been here. I’ve been dealing with work which has been good. I’ve been setting up a new blog on Wordpress (Comic Crossover Central). Then, there’s the fact that my girlfriend’s birthday is around Valentine’s Day. That took a while to plan. Then, there’s just the fact that February (and March) tend to be break periods for me. There’s also the fact that this PS4 contraption’s been taking my time. Either way, I’m back for a bit. So, it’s time to get to some Random Thoughts.

“Space, The Final Frontier!”

Back in February, we went to the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville for my girlfriend’s birthday. In all the time I’ve gone to Huntsville to visit family, I’ve never been there. I think the closest I got to it was a job fair that was being held in that vicinity. Anyway, we saw some good sites and got to spend some quality time together learning about the space program. I didn’t take too many pics for some reason, but I did get some nice ones. It was just a good day in general.

“Rain? What Rain?”

"This was fun," I mentally sarcastically said. 

Man, Tennessee’s been getting hit with rain. It’s like God said, “You know, I think I’ll hit y’all with something other than snow this time!” I ain’t complaining too much, but when you’re being reminded of the floods Tennessee had from 2010, it’s a little worrying. While Nashville got hit as usual, most of TN got it hard. I know Giles County especially around Elk River was looking scary. Me and my dad even had to fish out a couple of our tarps from a stream. It was nuts. Maybe we’ll get with that snow in March, but you never know these days.